At this point, no one is certain when the PGA Tour and PIF merger will be finalized. The process was started in June 2023 and it has been over a year without any result in sight. The PGA Tour has made a Transaction Committee with Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Adam Scott as the players members, but there as well the merger has been nothing but delayed. What’s the reason behind the two parties not getting on the same ship? Well, it might be more complicated than looks to the naked eye and Jordan Spieth spilled it all.

It was the 13-time PGA Tour winner’s first public appearance after his wrist injury. Spieth joined the Brookhaven Country Club for a fundraiser tournament, the Crush It! Cup. There, the 31-year-old was asked what’s the state of the merger. Spieth solemnly replied that because of the situation, the top players have significantly benefitted, probably hinting towards the increased prize purses, and the bonus given on the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. Which Spieth addressed as unsustainable for the game of golf.

But he was hopeful that things were getting worked on by the people involved. He added, “It’s just between the two sides, two tours, the government being involved. You know, it’s not as easy as hey, ‘everybody, let’s just get together and figure this out in an hour.’” Spieth understood the fans’ disappointment at the merger being delayed and he said that he was very much involved in everything and although it has been annoying from the outside, “It’s just it’s not anyone’s fault,” said the 3-time major winner.

As the process is long and a lot has happened in the past few days, it would take time for both parties to come to a conclusion and there would need to be many sacrifices. Thus, Spieth said, “It’s just the process of what needs to happen. It’s just going to take a little time.” 

Spieth was not alone being hopeful that the merger would be late but would be a reality in the future. Even McIlroy reciprocated similar feelings and he said during his press conference at the Amgen Irish Open, “I’m hopeful and hopefully we’ll hear some good news in the foreseeable future where things start to come back together.” 

Although the Northern Irishman sounds optimistic about the merger being finalized it seems he has changed his tune about the entire scenario after criticizing it before.

Rory McIlroy’s previous stance on the merger delay

Rory McIlroy was once a true LIV Golf critic and did not deem any partnership fit with the Saudi-backed league fit for the PGA Tour. But his stance was softened and he now wants a united game for fans and everything else. There have been other times too when the Northern Irishman has changed his words. When he did not like the Olympics, but after playing in it once, he was a fan.

So although now he was optimistic about the merger, he was critical of it first. As said, McIlroy forms a part of the Transaction Committee which negotiates with PIF. Thus, he was more aware of the situation than anyone else and was a little disappointed. The Northern Irishman expressed that he expected a lot more progress which has not been the case. He further added, “I wish more would have been done, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of willingness from some people to try to fix it.”

But since then as previously noted, the 4-time major winner has understood better and said, “A solution is hard to get to because there are different interests and people want different things.” As the merger is a lot more complicated than the entire golf world understands, one can only hope that soon it becomes a reality.